The Supreme Court (SC) has mobilized all trial court judges on the enforcement of the new rules that simplify, reduce legal and procedural hurdles, and facilitate the naturalization as Filipino citizens of refugees and stateless persons.
Capacity building activities have been conducted by the SC in various regions with the participation of trial court judges. The recent activities with judges were held in Cagayan de Oro City and in Manila.
The SC had said that the adoption of the simplified rules is the Philippines’ recognition of its commitments under international law, particularly the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
When the new rules were issued in 2022, the SC said it is the judiciary’s contribution to the fulfillment of the Philippines’ pledges during the Global Refugee Forum and High-Level Segment on Statelessness to enhance the policy, legal, and operational framework for refugees and stateless persons.
Under Presidential Proclamation No. 265 issued in 2023, June 20 every year is declared National Refugee Day.
Last June 20, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that "the first National Refugee Day highlights the country's solemn commitment to accord humanitarian efforts, provide a protected and conducive environment for refugees, asylum seekers, stateless persons, stateless applications, and persons at risk of statelessness."
During the celebration, the DOJ disclosed that there are “more or less a thousand recognized refugees here in the Philippines” and "with about the same number of pending applications."
It said the refugees are of diverse nationalities “but mostly coming from Middle East and African countries.”
“We Filipinos are renowned for our hospitality, and historically, we have extended this especially to vulnerable individuals in need of safety from war and persecution,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla had said.
For its part, the SC said: “With the Philippines being the first country in Southeast Asia to accede to the 1954 and 1961 Conventions, the Rule is the only Judiciary-led initiative of its kind at the global level that facilitates the naturalization procedure for refugees and stateless persons.”
The SC also said: “It also puts into fruition the goal of the Judiciary to ‘provide affordable and effective means of attaining justice’ by ‘introducing judicial reforms or streamlining court rules to ensure an efficient, fair, and speedy delivery of justice for cases of ’ pursuant to the 2017 Inter-Agency Agreement on the Protection of Asylum Seekers, Refugees, and Stateless Persons in the Philippines, among other frameworks.”
The rule “governs the procedure for the filing of petitions for naturalization by refugees and stateless persons recognized by the Philippine Government.”
It now allows electronic publication of the petition filed by refugees and stateless persons.
Section 12 of the rule states: “If the court is satisfied that the petition is sufficient in form and substance, it shall direct the clerk of court to cause the publication of the petition, excluding its annexes, for three (3) consecutive weeks in the Official Gazette or its website and in one (1) newspaper of general circulation or its website in the place where the petitioner resides, or the official website of the Supreme Court.”
The SC said the petition by publication “is with due regard to the special and vulnerable circumstances of refugees and stateless persons, such that the alternative modes of publication would reduce the necessary fees and be less burdensome for them.”
It said “the provision on electronic publication is a step towards the goal of the Supreme Court to have a technology-driven Judiciary that is capable of providing equal access to justice in real time.”
Also, the rule allows an unaccompanied child to file a petition for naturalization.
“A petition, in behalf of the unaccompanied child or a joint petition involving related unaccompanied children, may be filed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the appropriate Local Social Welfare and Development Office (LSWDO) where the unaccompanied child resides, or the child-caring agency having care and custody of the child,” the rule states.
SC Associate Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, chairperson of the Special Committee on Facilitated Naturalization for Refugees and Stateless Persons, said training sessions for judges will equip them “with the knowledge and tools in making well-reasoned, fair, and legally sound judicial decisions in facilitated naturalization cases.”
Justice Hernando reminded the judges of the impact of their role in the facilitated naturalization process. He said: “Note that as judges, you are doing more than simply honoring your oath to the legal profession when you ensure that refugees and stateless persons are afforded fair and accessible justice in our legal system. You effectively become part of a humane and collective effort to reintegrate these persons of concern into society, where they can rebuild their lives. Most of all, you are honoring their resilience despite the unimaginable adversity they face.”
The capacity building activities were conducted by the SC through its Special Committee on the Facilitated Naturalization for Refugees and Stateless Persons and the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJA) together with the DOJ’s Refugees and Stateless Persons Protection Unit (DOJ-RSPPU) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Philippines (UNHCR).